HORSE-GRAVE NO. 59

GENERAL VIEW FROM SOUTH

Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale”Dipartimento di Studi Asiatici

B. GENITO and L. MÁDARAS

ARCHAEOLOGICAL REMAINS OF A STEPPE PEOPLEIN THE HUNGARIAN GREAT PLAIN

(The Avarian Cemetery at Öcsöd Büdös Halom MRT 59 - Central Hungary)

MATERIALS AND PROBLEMS

NAPOLI2005

U.N.O.D.S.A.SeriesMaior

X

ARCH

AEOL

OGIC

AL R

EMAI

NS O

F A S

TEPP

E PE

OPLE

IN T

HE H

UNGA

RIAN

GRE

AT P

LAIN

(The

Ava

rian C

emete

ry at

Öcs

öd Bü

dös H

alom

MRT

59 - C

entra

l Hun

gary

)M

ATE

RIA

LS A

ND

PR

OBL

EMS

B. G

enito

L. M

ádar

as

U N I V E R S I T À D E G L I S T U D I D I N A P O L I “ L ’ O R I E N T A L E ”DIPARTIMENTO DI STUDI ASIATICI

B. GENITO and L. MÁDARAS

ARCHAEOLOGICAL REMAINS OF A STEPPE PEOPLEIN THE HUNGARIAN GREAT PLAIN

(The Avarian Cemetery at Öcsöd Büdös Halom MRT 59 - Central Hungary)

MATERIALS AND PROBLEMS

NAPOLI 2005

Series Maior

X

ARCH

AEOL

OGIC

AL R

EMAI

NS O

F A S

TEPP

E PE

OPLE

IN T

HE H

UNGA

RIAN

GRE

AT P

LAIN

(The

Ava

rian C

emete

ry at

Öcs

öd Bü

dös H

alom

MRT

59 - C

entra

l Hun

gary

)M

ATE

RIA

LS A

ND

PR

OBL

EMS

NAPOLI2005

U.N.O.D.S.A.SeriesMaior

X

B. G

enito

L. M

ádar

as

Series Maior

I. PETTINATO, G., Catalogo dei testi cuneiformi di Tell Mardikh-Ebla,

(Materiali epigrafici di Ebla - 1), Napoli 1979 - xiii - 292 pp.

II. PETTINATO, G., Testi amministrativi della biblioteca L. 2769, Parte I,

(Materiali epigrafici di Ebla - 2), Napoli 1980 - xiviii - 378 pp.

II*. PETTINATO, G., Testi amministrativi della biblioteca L. 2769, Parte I,

Tavole, (Materiali epigrafici di Ebla - 2/A), Napoli 1981 - 8 pp., LXX

pls.

III. PETTINATO, G., Testi lessicali monolingui della biblioteca L. 2769,

(Materiali epigrafici di Ebla - 3), Napoli 1981 - xxxii - 431 pp.

III*. PETTINATO, G., Testi lessicali monolingui della biblioteca L. 2769,

Tavole, (Materiali epigrafici di Ebla - 3/A), Napoli 1981 - 6 pp., XI

pls.

IV. PETTINATO, G., Testi lessicali bilingui della biblioteca L. 2769, Parte

I: Traslitterazione dei testi e ricostruzione del VE, (Materiali epigrafici

di Ebla - 4), Napoli 1982 - xxxiv - 427 pp., XXXII pls.

V. KLIMBURG - SALTER, D., The Kingdom of Ba≠miya≠n. Buddhist Art and

Culture of the Hindu Kush (in collaboration with the Istituto Italiano

per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente), Naples - Rome 1989 - xviii - 226

pp., XC pls. 2 maps.

VI. POMPONIO, F. - VISICATO, G., Early Dynastic Administrative Tablets

of ‹uruppak, Napoli 1994 - xx - 480 pp.

VI/A. VISICATO, G., Indices of Early Dynastic Administrative Tablets of

‹uruppak, Napoli 1997 - x - 136 pp.

VII. GIUNTA, R., The Rasu≠lid Architectural Patronage in Yemen. A

Catalogue, Naples 1997 - xviii - 433 pp.

VIII. GIUNTA, R., Les inscriptions funéraires de G ˘azn| (IVe-IXe/Xe-XVe

siècles), Napoli 2003 - xi - 500 pp., CXVII pls.

IX. HÂFEZ DI ‹IRÂZ, Canzoniere, Volume I. Introduzione, traduzione e

commento di G. M. D’ERME, Napoli 2004 - 357 pp.

ISSN 1824-6117

U N I V E R S I T À D E G L I S T U D I D I N A P O L I “ L ’ O R I E N T A L E ”DIPARTIMENTO DI STUDI ASIATICI

DAMJANICH JÁNOS MÚZEUM JÁSZ-NAGYKUN-SZOLNOK MÉGYEI MÚZEUMOK IGAZGATÓSÁGA

UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI NAPOLI “L’ORIENTALE”

DIPARTIMENTO DI STUDI ASIATICI

Series Maior

X

To the memory of Bökönyi Sandor

…at quoniam supra docui nil posse crearide nihilo neque quod genitumst ad nil revocari,esse inmortali primordia corpore debent,dissolui quo quaeque supremo tempore possint,materies ut subpeditet rebus reparandis.

[Lucretius, De Rerum Natura, I, 543-547]

and Umberto Scerrato

Per haec tempora Vulgarum dux Alzeco nomine,incertum quam ob causam………………………..……………………………………..…Quos Romualdus dux gratanterexcipiens, eisdem spatiosa ad habitandum loca, quae usque adillud tempus deserta erant, contribuit, scilicet Saepinum,Bovianum et Iserniam et alias cum suis territoriis civitates,ipsumque Alzeconem, mutato dignitatis, nomine, de ducegastaldium vocitari praecipit. Qui usque hodie in his ut dixi-mus locis habitantes, quamquam et Latine loquanter, linguae,tamen, propriae usum minime amiserunt.

[Paulus Diaconus, Historiae Langobardorum, V, 29]

ISSN 1824-6117

Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale”

This volume has been published thanks to a contribution of Regione Campania

Distributed by

Herder, International Book Center

Piazzza Montecitorio, 117-120 I - 00186 Roma

Tel. +39.06.6794628 Fax. +39.06.6784751 e-mail: distr@herder.it

U N I V E R S I T À D E G L I S T U D I D I N A P O L I “ L ’ O R I E N T A L E ”DIPARTIMENTO DI STUDI ASIATICI

B. GENITO and L. MÁDARAS

ARCHAEOLOGICAL REMAINS OF A STEPPE PEOPLEIN THE HUNGARIAN GREAT PLAIN

(The Avarian Cemetery at Öcsöd Büdös Halom MRT 59 - Central Hungary)

MATERIALS AND PROBLEMS

NAPOLI 2005

Series Maior

X

Index

Preface and Acknowledgements xi

Notes xv

Introduction 1

1. Historical-Archaeological outline 7

2. Archaeology of the Death 21

3. The Excavation 293.1 History of the Excavation and the neighbourhood of the site 293.2 The 1986 Season, Sector W, Graves 1-33 313.3 The 1996 and 1997 Season (September 4-28) 37

3.3.1 The 1996 Season, Sector A, Graves 34-43 373.3.2 The 1996 Season, Sector B, Graves 44-58 39

3.4 The 1997 Season (3-29 June), Sector C and Sector South A/B, Graves 59-71 433.4.1 Methods employed in the topographical contour 433.4.2 The Excavation in Sector C 453.4.3 The Excavation in Sector South A/B 463.4.4 Stratigraphical Sequence 48

4. The Catalogue of Graves and Obiects 554.1 Technical introduction to the Catalogues 55

5. The Catalogue of Pottery 615.1 Technical introduction to the Pottery Catalogue 61

6. Typology and Chronology 75

7. Specialistic Contributions 837.1 Horseman burials in the Carpathian Basin 837.2 Horse Graves in Central Asia and Western Connections 887.3 The Osteology of the Cemetery 96

7.3.1. Skeletal samples and preservation of remains 967.3.2 Assessment of age and sex 967.3.3 Skeletal variation: genetic relationships and structural adaptation 977.3.4 Skeletal and dental pathological markers of deprivation 997.3.5 Exposure to infectious pathogens and dental attrition 1007.3.6 Activity patterns: traumatic and degenerative changes 1027.3.7 Dental metrics 1037.3.8 Dental morphology 104

7.4 Animal remains 125References 151

Figures 173

Catalogue of graves 239

Catalogue of objects 313

Catalogue of pottery 475

Preface and Acknowledgements

Bruno Genito

Long time has pass since the excavations of the Öcsöd cemetery at the Jász-Nagykun-SzolnokCounty were conducted by a joint Italian-Hungarian team during 1996 and 1997.

It took eight years for an archaeological publication regarding this project to be in print; thispublication consists on telling the truth about this endeavour. This was not a very long time, but the“time” that passed by felt much longer than it actually was, and not just because of the practical andtechnical aspects of publishing an editorial work of this nature.

Long time has gone by since the ideas and the concepts that led Is.M.E.O. (now Is.I.A.O.) andI.U.O. (now U.N.O.) to start this archaeological project in Hungary were elaborated and also the timewhen the late Prof. Bökönyi Sandor (former Director of the Archaeological Institute of the HungarianAcademy of Sciences in 1983) was very eager to involve Italian scholars in an archaeological fieldproject in his country. He was the inspirer of the Italian archaeological movement in Hungary. Weshall be thankful to him and to all the Hungarian and Italian friends and colleagues who where involvedin this project and that contributed with different degrees of expertises and tokens of participation tothis project: Maurizio Tosi, Università degli Studi di Bologna, the real promoter of this “Hungarian”scientific initiave, Gherardo Gnoli, President of I.s.I.A.O., the late Umberto Scerrato of Universitàdegli Studi di Roma, “La Sapienza”, Adolfo Tamburello, Adriano Rossi and Maurizio Taddei, formerDirectors of the Department of Asian Studies (D.S.A.), and the last two also former Rectors of I.U.O.;Bálint Csanad, now Director of the Institute of Archaeology of Hungarian Academy of Sciences,Budapest, Makkay János, Rëdö Ferenc and Gabler Dénes the scholars who were working in Italy in afield project in Abbruzzo, related to the Roman imperial time, Jankovich Dénes, at that time executivesecretary of the Institute, and last but not least my co-editor and friend Mádaras László of the DamjanichJános Múzeum (D.J.M.) in Szolnok, Pólgar Zóltan, and the former Directors of D.J.M. Talas Lászlóand Kértesz Robert.

Lets not forget my Italian colleagues who accompanied me in this Hungarian adventure; first of allMaurizio Cattani, then Raffaele Biscione, Ivan Chiesi, Mauro Cremaschi, Alessandro Guidi, Alessan-dra Lazzari, Sabatino Laurenza, Amelia Menna, Fabiana Puorto, Rossana Dindi, Giorgio Colombari,Mario Mascellari and Mario Pellegrini; also my Hungarians colleagues, Bartosiewicz László, VidaTivadar, Vicze Magda. All of them contributed in a particular and important way to the Italianarchaeological movement in Hungary. And to all of them I want to express here my greatest andsincere appreciation.

Much appreciation is due to Mrs. Garam Eva and Bálint Csanad who guest the Italian scholars intheir excavation at Örménykút in 1983 and 1984 during the beginning of the Italian archaeologicalactivity in Hungary. Also special thanks are due to Makkay János that encourage and inspired me verymuch during those years. Specially when it was decided to start in 1996, a new collaboration with theD.J.M. of Szolnok. To him my deepest and heartfelt feelings of gratitude and friendship.

It is difficult to say if the results achieved by the Italian archaeological activity in Hungary fitvery well with the hopes and the expectations we had. I do not know if a “dozen of articles”, an“International congress” with the related volume and “this one”, actually could represent or not agood scientific aim. I can say that all the efforts that were made by the Italian side where made inorder to reach them. It is, nonetheless, important to remind that in a recent review of the Acts of theCongress Archaeology of the Steppes, Work, Methods and Strategies, Naples, appeared in ActaArchaeologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, n. 53, 2002, pp.270-272, the author, BánfyEszter, was surprisingly putting the question as “inhabitant of the Carpathian Basin” about whatsteppe could mean and to what extent the Hungarian Great Plain was to be historically considered

xii B. Genito and L. Madaras

or not a steppe area. This is, in my opinion, the clearest evidence that the efforts and the goal for tenyears (1983-1993) strongly persecuted by the Institute of Archaeology of Hungarian Academy ofSciences and Is.I.A.O. were not completely successfully and not anymore reached: the steppe in theCarpathian basin in the reviewer’s viewpoint was only a “B. Genito’s basic idea”, “true”, perhaps,but certainly “instrumental” (p. 272) (sic!!!).

In 1983 and even later in 1995-96 the times and the geo-political situation of Europe (includingsuch countries as Italy and Hungary) changed a lot, the PC revolution was only at the beginning andlast but not least, our mind is now hardly recognizable with respect to the mentality of that time. Still,together with Madaras László we decided to publish, under the form of a final report, these excavationtrenches made in Öcsöd cemetery by the Hungarians in 1986 (sector W) and the ones jointly made in1996 and 1997 (sector A, B, C). I do hope, we do hope that the publication will be well acceptedamongst scholar’s circles and that publishing the results of this joint Italian-Hungarian archaeologicalexcavation, the present volume will contribute to a more tinged understanding of that question.

Big efforts have been made, by the editors in order to give uniformity to the text and to the scientificpresentation of the joint work; not all the ideas and proposals expressed inside the volume were in thesame way shared by them. When possible the scientific responsibility of the texts remained in chargeof their own respective part; inside the shared text a good way to reach a reasonable compromise hasbeen, in time, finally by them found. To both of them is particularly due the best of gratitude and Ithank for that.

It is particularly significant, nonetheless, that in the same time when this publication has come tothe light, also a Ph D dissertation related to the Italian excavation in Endröd 19 (one of the sitesworked out by the Italians in 1988-90) has been finished and completed, written by Dr. Amelia Menna(Tesi di Dottorato di Ricerca Università degli Studi di Napoli L’Orientale, in Archeologia, Rapportitra Oriente e Occidente, I ciclo-Nuova Serie bis, with the title “La ceramica proto-storica nel bacinodei Carpazi: l’evidenza dello scavo di Endröd 19, Ungheria sud-Orientale)”. I am sure that BökönyiSandor would have appreciated this very much!

This volume in the Series Major of our Department represents the third book related to the topic ofthe Archaeology of the Steppes published by the U.N.O., the first in 1994, The Archaeology of theSteppes: Methods and Strategies edited by myself, the second in 1995, Burial Customs of Early Nomadsof the Eurasian Steppes, I Statistical Analyses of Burial Customs of the Sauromatians 6th-4th CenturiesB.C. edited by Marina Glevovna Mos ˛kova, and myself.

In the meantime other scientific activities were in these years effected in collaboration with theD.A.S. of the I.U.O. (now U.N.O.) and related to the same topic, the most significant of which are: anInternational Conference Kontakte zwischen Byzanz, Iran und der Steppe, held in the Accademiad’Ungheria in Rome from 25th to 28th October 1993, whose acts have been published in 2000 with thefinancial contribution of the U.N.O. and Is.I.A.O., Balint, C. (Hrsg.) Kontakte zwischen Byzanz, Iranund der Steppe, Varia Archaeologica, X, Roma-Napoli-Budapest; two exhibitions held in the MuseoArcheologico Nazionale in Naples one, in 1999 with the title Altyn Adam – L’Uomo d’Oro – LaCultura delle steppe del Kazakhstan, dall’Età del Bronzo alle Grandi Migrazioni, Napoli, MuseoArcheologico Nazionale, 10 aprile-10 luglio 1999, Roma, and a second in 2002 with the title PastoriErranti dell’Asia: Popoli, storia e archeologia nelle steppe dei Kirghisi. Museo Archeologico Nazionale,Napoli 3 maggio-31 agosto 2002. Napoli.

Focusing on the real topic of the volume the agreement of scientific co-operation between theD.J.M. in Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County (JNasz) and the U.N.O. now look back to more than fiveyears. Its professional basis was provided by the fact that D.J.M. of JNasz had long been involved inoutstanding research on the Migration Period; whereas U.N.O. has considered the excavation andstudy of the material culture of the Eurasian peoples one of its major field of interest. To this end, theGreat Hungarian Plain offered an excellent terrain where peoples and tribes of the Migration had livedfor shorter or longer periods and left remains of their material culture upon us in great profusion.

Archaeological Remains of a Steppe People in the Hungarian Great Plain… xiii

In order to implement a joint research project the two institutes entered into a co-operation agreementin the summer of 1996, in accordance with the state-level agreement between Italy and Hungary onscientific and technological co-operation. The mutually accepted “Co-operation agreement onarchaeology” defines the aims of the co-operation as follows: “...the Institute of Eastern Studies has avast interest in fostering the research into Asian civilizations, in reaching a better understanding of thecommon origin of European nations..., which is expressively manifested in facilitating an adequatearchaeological activity in the countries of Eastern Europe and especially in the territory of Hungarytrying to unearth evidence of the culture of Eurasian steppe peoples from the soil of the Great HungarianPlain.”.

According to the agreement, the joint work, including archaeological excavations that started in1996. Based on field studies and local information the location chosen was the site registered as no. 59in the Hungarian Archaeological Topography near the village of Öcsöd. During the first two years, inthe course of two one-month excavations, 33 graves were unearthed from the Avar period and weredocumented and processed as a joint effort. The present collection of papers contains the scientificconclusions drawn together by the researchers. It offers a summary of all the observations made by thescientists of the two institutes taking part in the joint research project.

We must extend our gratitude to two outstanding professionals leaders and co-ordinators of theproject, dr. Ph D Madaras László and prof. Bruno Genito; but thanks are also due to the municipalgovernment of Öcsöd and its mayor, Bálint Molnár by name for providing various technical help onthe site.

It is important to emphasize that the work of the Italian Archaeological Mission in Hungary in 1995and 1996 would not be possible without the financial contribution of Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairsand of University and Scientific and Technological Research, and the continue assistance and help ofthe Italian Embassy in Hungary and of the Italian Cultural Institute in Budapest.

This publication was also made possible thanks to the financial contributions of Regione Campaniawith a research project entitled “Centro di documentazione…” (L.R. 5/2002), delivered trough U.N.O.in 2004. For this I should express my deepest thanks to the Sovrintendenza Regionale della Campaniain the name of its leader Prof. Stefano De Caro and to the Archaeological Cooperative “Xenia” of Drs.Luciano Rendina and Angela De Filippis, my partner Institutions in the project. Special infrastructuralsupport has been given to the publication by the Directorship and all the staff of D.J.M. of JNasz towhom I express also my feeling of gratitude and thanks, and to Museo Nazionale Preistorico edEtnografico Luigi Pigorini in Rome which authorized Drs. Loretana Salvadei and Elena Santandrea tojoin in 2001 and 2002 the Italian Archaeological Mission in Hungary to work on the physicalanthropological remains of the cemetery. Another special thank is also due to Dr. Michael Glucksternwho dedicated a lot of his professional and friendly work for a complete revision and correction of theEnglish text of the contributors.

Finally the editorial result could not have been possible without the irreplaceable professional andtechnical help of the Officine Grafico-Editoriali di Ateneo - U.N.O. “Il Torcoliere” and in particular ofUmberto Cinque, technical, scientific and editorial coordinator, Mr. Enzo Cipullo who, with largeamount of patience was the real master of art, and the scientific and technical help by Drs. SabatinoLaurenza, Amelia Menna, Daniela Murphy and Sophie Pornet.

Notes and Abbreviations

With regard to the criteria used in presenting graves nos. 1-43 (pp. 29-37), some further informationshould be given to the readers. The lack of a full correspondence between single words anddenominations present in the description and in the catalogues are due to different systems adopted bythe teams. The Hungarians were using a more descriptive summary, whereas the Italians a moreformalised frame to be utilized in a schematic and electronic cards. The substance of the matters is,nonetheless, in both cases the same.

The choose to present in the Catalogues also the pottery sherds found outside the graves, wasrelated to a more ample viewpoint in observing the archaeological deposit, before and independentlyfrom the content of the graves. Those sherds do not represent actually a chronological indication forthe cemetery, but elements for the history of the stratigraphic deposit, where the cemetery was located.They belong actually to the history of the soil deposition in the area.

In the text of Drs. Salvadei and Santandrea the description of the table no. 1 (p. 110) is referring tothe table which is located at page (p.108-109).

The drawings of the Catalogues have been made by Fabiana Puorto and Rossana Dindi.In the Catalogue of the graves, cards of lost or decayed objects (animal bone, bronze, iron, leather

and in some cases silver) have been included as “empty” for practical and editorial reasons. The lostobjects are the following: grave no. 1, objects nos. 4, 5, 7; grave no. 3 (M) objects nos. 30, 32; graveno. 3 (H), objects nos. 6-9; grave no. 40, objects nos. 3-4; grave no. 44, objects nos. 2-4. The decayedobjects are the following: grave no. 19, object no, 1; grave no. 25, object no. 2; grave no. 32 (H), objectno.1; grave no. 33, object nos. 5,14; grave no. 42, object no. 2; grave no. 59 (H), object no. 10; graveno. 60, object nos. 4, 22; grave no. 61, object no. 3.

In the Catalogue of pottery fragments nos. 78, 79, 80 are missing.The sizes of the objects are indicated with their dimensions only in the cards, whilst for a better

perception of the very small or fine objects, some of them are over or under-scaled represented, so thattheir inner comparisons could be sometimes erroneously perceived. The orientation of the graves isexpressed in North-North western angles.

The most common abbreviations used are the following: SU, stratigraphic units, (M) and (H) areused in the horse-graves in order to indicate the male and the horse grave-goods; the abbreviations inthe Catalogue of the pottery are explained in the chapter 5 (pp. 61-62) those for the osteological andaninal bones are in the related texts.